The Elf Journey In The Western Fantasy World-Chapter 142: The Waiting Game

As he worked out the plan in his head, Eoryun squatted down happily in place, waiting for the right moment to put his thoughts into action.

Seeing Eoryun suddenly freeze and even reinforce his concealment spells puzzled the people tailing him.

They had no idea what he was trying to do.

Could it be that he had discovered their presence?

No way, right? If he had, would this be how he reacted?

He’d come here in secret, not telling anyone, and he was clearly planning to make contact with the Ice Flower discreetly.

It was obvious he wasn’t up to anything good.

If he had found out his plan was exposed, at the very least, he should be panicking—or even fleeing the demon realm altogether from sheer embarrassment.

That wouldn’t be impossible.

In the end, they decided to stay put and see what Eoryun intended to do first. Only after figuring that out would they decide what to do next.

Despite having different thoughts, both parties strangely arrived at the same decision—to hold still. Was this... mutual understanding?

Eoryun didn’t move from his squatting position, and the group following him stayed perfectly still too.

Whenever Eoryun stealthily scooted to the side, those behind would stealthily scoot with him, maintaining alignment with his movements.

Minutes passed, but the person in front remained motionless, while those in the back started growing restless.

After holding back for so long, Darius could take it no longer.

Before his retirement, he was the captain of the Royal Guard.

Naturally, his every action was the epitome of discipline and decisiveness—there was no room in his style for the kind of dithering going on right now.

He simply could not grasp the way this young master from Haneulseong City operated.

Eoryun had chosen to sneak out here alone to meet the Ice Flower.

They’d already cleared the guards around the Cold Pool for him and even refrained from setting any traps.

Right now was the perfect window of opportunity—everyone should be at the banquet mingling, completely unaware of Eoryun’s movements.

This was basically a man-made alignment of heaven, earth, and opportunity.

So why, even now, had Eoryun not acted?

Unable to understand, Darius decided it was time to ask.

Darius quietly set up a soundproof magic array around their small area, then edged closer to the blond elf and began whispering his question.

"Illiya, why do you think Eoryun still hasn’t made a move?"

Illiya was momentarily stunned by the sudden question.

He honestly couldn’t understand why Darius would come to him with something like this. Did he think Illiya was a mind reader, capable of understanding every thought in Eoryun’s head?

But that wasn’t the important part. There was a more pressing issue at hand.

With that in mind, Illiya silently pulled away from Darius, then loudly said, "Darius, didn’t you already set up a soundproof magic array? Then why did you still come over to whisper in my ear? Do you not trust your own magic skills? Please answer clearly!"

Everyone present: "..."

Darius: "...???"

Suddenly scolded, Darius snapped back to his senses.

Oh right, he had indeed set up a soundproof array before speaking. So why on earth had he still lowered his voice like some shady contact doing a secret deal in the back alley?

He didn’t get it. He truly didn’t understand.

Thankfully, after wandering the continent for over a decade, Darius’s face was thicker than a brick wall.

He showed no sign of embarrassment from being called out.

Instead, he wore a completely natural expression, as if that "Darius the swordsman" was someone else entirely.

"I just forgot for a second," Darius said breezily, brushing the whole thing off without missing a beat. Then, smoothly redirecting the topic, he asked again, "So, Illiya, why do you think Eoryun hasn’t acted yet?"

Illiya: "..."

He had about ten thousand things he wanted to say in response to that, but bound by the persona of an elf, he chose not to speak them aloud in front of others. Instead, he swallowed the words and pretended not to hear the question at all.

Darius, seeing this, gave a smug little smile of victory.

This round clearly went to the thick-skinned human.

Thankfully, Illiya didn’t catch the look on Darius’s face, or he definitely wouldn’t have let it slide so easily.

In truth, he too was confused about what Eoryun was thinking.

After all, in a certain sense, Eoryun could be seen as the classic overpowered protagonist from a hot blooded fantasy novel. But this particular "main character" behaved quite differently from the usual "I defy fate" types.

He was... well...

Just unusually passive and unmotivated, really.

At that moment, Anos suddenly had an unreliable theory pop into his head.

He raised his hand hesitantly and said in a rather unsure tone, "I have a guess... it might not be very reliable, but I want to share it."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned to look at him.

Now they were genuinely curious—just how unreliable could the Demon King’s idea be? And who knows, maybe this "unreliable" theory might actually turn out to be right.

Caught off guard by so many eyes on him, Anos felt awkward. It was one thing to be stared at by his own subordinates—he was used to that. But now there were others present as well.

Forcing down the embarrassment, he quickly and quietly blurted out his idea: "Well... in those songs sung by traveling bards, there’s often this kind of thing, right? Like when the protagonist infiltrates the enemy’s territory and sees a place with almost no guards, they don’t rush in. Because the easier it looks on the surface, the more dangerous it usually is."

"I mean... I’m just guessing. I have no idea if that’s actually the case," Anos said, practically closing his eyes as he finished.

Then he shot a quick glance at the others, afraid he’d catch a hint of amusement on their faces.

Even though Anos knew what he’d just said sounded a bit ridiculous... freewёbnoνel.com

Still, it seemed that Anos was overthinking things. For one, over half the people here were his subordinates.

The reason they didn’t applaud wasn’t because they didn’t agree—it was because they were afraid of startling their own king.

Not to mention, the others crouching nearby were all well-mannered enough that they wouldn’t do something like that in the first place.

As for what the others thought after hearing it—Illiya didn’t know. But he, personally, felt a little... complicated.

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